Around the year 1540 a.S., long before the
Great Compendium was published by Sage
Artimidor Federkiel 1660 a.S., old letters dating back over more than
thousand years were rediscovered in the remains of the Great Library. What are
now called the Hammersfeld Parchments are the last proof that the direct royal
line of Santhros the Wise of the House of
Salazath had not die out with the supposed death of the son of King Thaenos and
his Queen Mererra of Harvinsbrook in 167 a.S. They had been found and lost
again in the flux of the last millennium. Their recovery in the ruins of the
Great Library in the early years of the Age of Reunion definitely helped
Grothunc the Wise to ascend the throne.

Description.
If someone asks one of the librarians of the Great Library in
New-Santhala to show him the original
of the so called Hammersfeld Parchments, he would be surprised to find a fairly
plain leather wrapper on his desk, out of a dark brown leather, bound with
strong straps and a now broken seal.

Inside are three old looking letters, written on fine vellum, a little brittle
at the edges, but otherwise in astonishing good condition. Both have the same
address on the outside and the same sender. The writing points to somebody with
skill in this matter, the letters are exactly set, the initials very finely
crafted. The last and shortest letter however seems to be written in a kind of
emotional imbalance, the letters are less exact and there is even a tiny spot
of ink under the name. But that won't surprise anyone who has read the content.

The letters are, as their content tells us, written by a lesser cleric,
Fridloff Ciosaskjun, a Cleric of Armeros
working in Santhala, to his superior,
Father Eynael the Longlived of Jernais. The titles (His Holiness, Most
Reverend, Excellency) used for this superior point at a very high ranked
person, maybe even at the head of all priests of
Armeros at this time. The Refuge of
Rimmerin existed obviously already, which would become so important later in
the Clerical Age. To note is also, that it is
"Santhala", which had been not yet destroyed, an indication, that the date
of the letters is no fake. It is to hope, that research will find out more
about Excellency Eynael of Jernais, for he
seems to have played an important role in politics. Mentioned is also the head
cleric Ksabe‘eki Quia of the temple of
Queprur in Santhala, a woman with
Eyelian ancestors who is still
known by the poems she wrote. Brother Skan, a lower cleric of
Grothar in Onved, who wrote the
confession down, seems of no bigger importance.

THE FIRST LETTER

5th
of Armerstar, 203 a.S.

To His Holiness,
The Most Reverend
Servant of Armeros
Excellency Father Eynael the Longlived of Jernais
Refugium of Rimmerin

Your Excellency, my Father,

excuse me for intruding your seclusion, but I have news of utmost
importance for you. Today the head cleric Ksabe‘eki Quia of the temple of
Queprur in Santhala came to me to report of what she has learned last
night. She had been over to Onved and there a local priest had asked,
hesitantly, for an interlocution. That granted, he inquired further, if he
could breach the seal of the confessional, if he had come to know
something very important, something to do with the Santhran. Of course
Mother Quia affirmed him, that this would be his duty and that the seal
would not be observed as broken, if he only told it to a superior of a
congregation. And indeed, it is a secret, which can bring war to the whole
country, if we are not wise. He had written down a confession, that he
himself had heard from an old midwife. As the bark he used is quite
brittle, I copy the words to the vellum:

Today, a midwife, Elrita Barj’van, came to me and confessed something
terrible. I can only write down the words she uttered to me while coughing
hardly, as she told me them, I cannot even them out, I dare not even
anything out, I might alter the meaning. And that is every word she told
me:

I was a midwife in the Lord‘s house, our Lord Dekem, I mean. Not the big
house they have up somewhere in Erpheronia, but the one they own in
Santhala. His wife was very heavy with child, the Lady Aerryn. And she
gave birth to a little boy, a beautiful one with red, moist hair, but he
was dead, he didn‘t do a single breath, the cord was around his neck and
that was it. Our Lady was full of agony and I sent the girl who assisted
me to fetch the Lord. He looked very angry, but then he smirked. He took
the child and wrapped it in a blanket, patted on Lady Aerryn‘s head and
said: „It‘s not dead, just a bit ill, you will have it later.“ Then he
gave me a sign to follow him and I had to leave the Lady with the girl who
helped me.

And then the horrible man, he... (The woman coughed and cried at this
point) he asked me: „You have a daughter in the kitchen, don‘t you?“ And
as I nodded he said: „ Well, if you want to have her well and healthy, you
will now do what I tell you and then speak not a single word to anybody.
Bring the child in the cellar and keep it hidden and cool - and well
preserved - until I tell you to fetch it. Then go and wash yourself. The
queen needs a new midwife and you got.. got recomm.. something I didn‘t
understand - from - us.“ I did what I could, but I did not sense what he
planned... otherwise I might have ... (The woman started crying) I had to
attend to the queen and when her time came and the child was nearly here I
was ordered to give her ether against the pain, but in truth the queen
only passed out to have her healthy son, our king‘s son, removed from her.
And I was the one who had to do it . I found a reason to send all other
attending women away for a couple of minutes and then it was done. The
living child replaced with the dead one of the Lord Dekem. Lord Dekem took
the little boy away, but before he left the room, he turned to me,
smiling, but with eyes so menacing as if a demon would look out of them
and he said just a few words: „ You will never say a word about what you
have done, you know, I cursed you. One word, and not only you, but your
daughter as well will be taken by demons to the netherworlds, not
immediately, but soon enough, and all with you, who might have heard your
words. So be wise, nobody will believe you anyway. Your word stands
against mine... If the demons don‘t get you first, you will end on the
stake..“ Then some commotion could be heard from outside the room and he
laughed in a terrible way and left quickly through a back door. When the
queen awoke from her sleep, she was told, that her child was born dead and
of course it was too cold, but wrapped in a thick cloth one could not tell
the difference.

Later I heard that Lord Dekem had a second son... I mean a living one... I
did not stay long in his household though but took my daughter and fled in
the woods. There we met a Baveras‘ Aid whom we could join and we never
went back to Santhala. (She cried a little more.) The little boy, the one
the queen had, he had been so sweet, had a little brown mark on his arm,
but otherwise he was perfect. Will Queprur punish me, when she takes me
away?

That‘s all the old woman said before she died.
Brother Skan, cleric of Grothar at Onved

Horrible news, and dangerous ones too. If, what that midwife says, is
true, then a true heir of King Thaenos could still live, 36 years old
only, in the best years to take the power back. ]We could get rid of that
weakling and his witch Majida, King Santhros line would be restored! What
can we do, what should we do? I hope my messenger will find you well and
you can send back some instructions, what to do.

Looking forward to your advice

Fridloff Ciosaskjun
Cleric of Armeros, Santhala

This letter gives evidence,
that there were trends within the political landscape of that time, which did
not like the reign of the House of Hammersfeld, but would have warmly greeted
the restoration of Santhros‘ House
Salazath. Santhran Calron had been seen as weak and his wife Majida was
mistrusted because of her heritage.

THE SECOND LETTER

10th of Armerstar, 203
a.S.

To His Holiness,
The Most Reverend
Servant of Armeros
Excellency Father Eynael the Longlived of Jernais
Refugium of Rimmerin

Your Excellency, my Father

I have not yet received notice from you, but as I have some new findings,
I send another messenger after the first one.

I did some enquiry and found the apprentice midwife, now a woman in her
sixties, whom the woman in the first report called ,girl‘. When Lady
Aerryn‘s midwife and her daughter vanished, she became frightened and had
been silent for her whole life, until I promised her, that she would be
under the protection of the temple from now on. I wrote down as thoroughly
as possible, what she had to say:

I had been a young apprentice midwife in the household of Count Dekem
Hammersfeld. When the time had come, that his Lady Aerryn would have her
second child I was called to assist at the birth. And there I witnessed,
that his son was born dead, a beautiful child with moist red hair and a
very pale complexion, but definitely not breathing. Then I was sent away
to fetch Lord Dekem, but not without hearing the countess Aerr´yn crying
full of agony. She did not leave her room for days. But then, when a week
had passed, she emerged, to my surprise, with a baby in her arms. I knew,
her child had been dead, I had seen him and I know, when all is too late.
But now it did live again - and our Lady was so pale like never before.
Rumours sprang up in the household, that something had to be wrong. The
servants whispered about dark magic, about... necromassy, necromarncy or
how it is called - or a demon living in the dead child and more. Lord
Dekem treated us servants worse than normally, teasing us with cruel words
and laughing in an ugly way, though he seemed somehow to be much more
content than in the days before the unlucky birth. Elrita behaved
strangely also, since she had come back from assisting with the royal
birth. I thought she had to be proud to be called, but she looked haunted
and then she left the household after a few days. She said she had to,
because she had been cursed. ,The Lord cursed me‘, she whispered to me,
but which Lord? Our Lord Dekem? Though he is a nasty man, I couldn‘t
believe this, but in that time we were all afraid, and that strange child,
crying day and night, was a heavy stone on our souls.

You can imagine, that I have been horrified, when, after three weeks, I
was ordered to look after the baby. It had a nurse, but she was obviously
not learned enough to keep it healthy. And as the Lord feared that our
Lady Aerryn would go insane, if the child would die a second time... I
mean, we all knew, it had been dead... I was commanded to take over. And
then I saw the child. And was stunned. It was not the same baby, I swear.
It had fine, very fine brown or black hair on his head, not as much and as
red as the other child. It looked different also, every baby differs from
the other. What was awful and what must have been very painful for the
little one was that terrible wound on the forearm, as if its arm had
fallen into the fire and was burned severely. It didn‘t want to heal
either for a long time. No wonder he had cried so long. But otherwise the
little boy was quite healthy. Lady Aerryn was quite fond of him, Lord
Dekem not so much, but well, he was fond of nothing. I did not dare to
mention that to anybody, that I thought it had to be a different child.
Maybe it was the same child, and the demon in it had changed its
appearance? When the boy grew up he seemed to be quite normal and all the
rumours vanished with the time, mostly, because he was a friendly lad.
Though, when something unusual happened, everybody observed him closely.
As he grew older, he often was sent away to do some business till he
vanished entirely. I think, most have been relieved to see him go.

It fits! Not a single discrepancy! The child was exchanged and the
birthmark, typical for the House of Salazath burned out! That would also
explain, why Lord Dekem send away his second son, Korrin Hammersfeld, for
education to Parda and later to do trade business so far away as Strata
and even Aeruillin, as is rumoured. What interests might an Erpheronian
have in Aeruillin! And the house Hammersfeld in Erpheronia is now
represented by his third son, Dekmar Hammersfeld. Father, we need to take
action!

Yours respectfully

Fridloff Ciosaskjun
Cleric of Armeros, Santhala

It was indeed the third son who carried the
Hammersfeld line on in Erpheronia. Korrim Hammersfeld was known to have married
in Strata where he settled for the rest of his life. If he had ever been in
Aeruillin is unsure. With these two letters evidence is given, that indeed the
children were exchanged, but, as the third letter tells us, high clerical ranks
seemed to have found it inopportune to make the treachery public which had
taken place around fourty years earlier.

THE THIRD LETTER

30th of Armerstar, 203
a.S.

To His Holiness,
The Most Reverend
Servant of Armeros
Excellency Father Eynael the Longlived of Jernais
Refugium of Rimmerin

Your Excellency

I yield to Your wisdom, though I find it hard, to let injustice happen, to
sacrifice justice for a peace, which is rotten. But as you say, we have
not the might currently to stand up against the Hammersfeld dynasty, when
the Linked Hands support the heir of the king, they brought into power. As
brother Skan can‘t be witness anymore due to his undue death and the
apprentice midwife has suddenly turned mad, we have no witnesses to prove
our claim. What a disgrace. King Santhros true heir walks under the Injčrá
and is not restored to his rights, nor his children.

Yours respectfully

Fridloff Ciosaskjun
Cleric of Armeros, Santhala

Origin. The letters are obviously written in the month of the
Awakening Earth by a cleric of
Armeros, living in
Santhala, to his senior, who stayed at
this time in a religious refuge in the Rimmerins. This superior priest did
obviously not share the opinion of his subordinated cleric to public the
possible conspiracy. We do not know, what Excellency Eynael the Longlived knew,
what for reasons he had to silence brother Fridloff Ciosaskjun and the cleric
Quia of the temple of Queprur. The
letters were kept secret and did not influence history at that time.

History.Santhros the Wise
of the House Salazath has been without doubt not only the founder of
Santharia, but probably the most revered
and well liked ruler in the entire history of
Santharia. So it is not surprising, that common people and many
representatives of the nobility alike would have favoured a heir of him on the
throne, especially in time of needs. The line ended - so most people thought -
with the death of King Thaenos‘ son in the year 167 a.S. and the House
Hammersfeld rose to power. Hopes of the for the continuation of the
Santhros
line were buried, for now.

It did not take long though, till rumours and prophecies spread under the
common people, they took a strange turn however. Many of the poor and
mistreated believed, that
Santhros
would come back in time of dread and sorrow, that he would defy death to take
over the rule and bring justice and wealth to his land again. The better
educated populace could not share the belief, that
Santhros
himself would come back, but many hoped, especially after the country suffered
after the end of the Golden Age of Kings, that one of his descendants would
emerge magically out of nowhere. It indeed happened twice in history.

The first time shortly after the era of the Southern Wars around 1050 a.S.,
when a strong-minded man, Duke Sanmaros the Strong of House Salazath ascended
the throne of the Northern part of the former kingdom. He proved to be a true
descendant of
Santhros,
for he had the typical birthmark of Santhros'
line, a brown spot shaped like a phoenix
on his inner left arm and an amulet, inherited from his mother, a noble woman
who could trace back her ancestors to the House Salazath. His father had been
of uncertain heritage, but had the birthmark also. He had claimed, he would be
a direct descendant of Korrin Hammersfeld, but could not prove it. This claim
shows, that the letters described above must have been known already at this
time and their content accepted. Where they had been up to then, or in which
library they had been guarded at the time of Duke Sanmaros we do not know. It
may well be, that they were buried under
hebs of dust in the then
lost Great Library.

In the second half of the 16th century, Santhran Grothunc‘s father was born in
Ximax. It is said, that he already had the
birthmark and the amulet in his position. His father did not know of the
importance and meaning of both, but it was discovered by a cleric who taught
him as a child.

The letters were rediscovered some years before Grothunc ascended the throne.
They may well have sparked the idea to reinstall the line of
Santhros, once it was known, that a heir
who could proof his lineage was ready to take the power.Importance. Birthmark and amulet are what
was needed to prove that the line of Santhros
had not died out. The rediscovery of the Hammersfeld Parchments came in handy
to claim, that it is possible, that a direct heir of
Santhros the Wise could exist. Korrim
Hammersfeld, the exchanged child, son of the last direct heir of
Santhros, King Thaenos, had three own sons
and several grandchildren. However, many important documents were lost during
the periods of war and destruction which covered the
Santharian lands, so that no record is
available which pins down every generation from father to son or daughter. So
it is not possible to say, if Thar II or Grothunc the Wise are direct
descendants of Korrim Hammersfeld, or if the line has always run in the
firstborn, be it son or daughter. (This changed at the beginning at the Age of
Discovery: From then on the firstborn was always the next ruler, be it male or
female.) Both heirs of Santhros could well
be the children of third borns, the amulet was probably not given to the
firstborn, but to the firstborn daughter, though nobody can know today, who
received it as a present from whom. Princess Saenýssa probably gave it to her
oldest daughter, but she had been first of the royal line. (Theoretically one
of the families could even have died out and the amulet given to a close
friend, who was not related to Santhros'
line, but we do not think it is the case.) The
phoenix birthmark is characteristic for
Santhros' line, but can show in last borns
also.

The Hammersfeld Parchments do not help to clear those uncertainties, but their
importance and their worth lie on a symbolic level: They prove, that the line
of Santhros did not die out with King
Thaenos, but his blood ran on strongly in a child who fathered many more
children who influenced the kingdom in the one or other way. It is possible,
and many believe, that is a fact, that
Santhros' blood runs in our current ruler, our beloved Santhran Tiandor.